88176 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 243 / Wednesday, December 20, 2023 / Notices 

28 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Rule 1.5(n) (‘‘Member’’). The term 

‘‘Member’’ shall mean any registered broker or 

dealer that has been admitted to membership in the 

Exchange. A Member will have the status of a 

‘‘member’’ of the Exchange as that term is defined 

in section 3(a)(3) of the Act. Membership may be 

granted to a sole proprietor, partnership, 

corporation, limited liability company or other 

organization which is a registered broker or dealer 

pursuant to section 15 of the Act, and which has 

been approved by the Exchange. 

4 ‘‘Trade date’’ is the date of trading activity in 

yyyy-mm-dd format. 

5 ‘‘Total volume’’ is the total number of shares 

transacted. 

6 ‘‘Short volume’’ is the total number of shares 

sold short. 

7 ‘‘Short exempt volume’’ is the total number of 

shares sold short classified as exempt. 

8 ‘‘Symbol’’ refers to the Cboe formatted symbol 

in which the trading activity occurred. See https:// 

cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/US_

Symbology_Reference.pdf. 

9 ‘‘Trade date and time’’ is the date and time of 

trading activity in yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.000000 

ET format. 

10 ‘‘Trade size’’ is the number of shares 

transacted. 

11 ‘‘Trade price’’ is the price at which shares were 

transacted. 

12 ‘‘Short type’’ is a data field that will indicate 

whether the transaction was a short sale or short 

sale exempt transaction. A short sale transaction is 

a transaction in which a seller sells a security 

which the seller does not own, or the seller has 

borrowed for its own account (see 17 CFR 242.200). 

A short sale exempt transaction is a short sale 

transaction that is exempt from the short sale price 

test restrictions of Regulation SHO Rule 201 (see 17 

CFR 242.201(c)). 

13 ‘‘Exchange’’ is the market identifier (Z = BZX, 

Y = BYX, X = EDGX, A = EDGA). 

14The monthly fees for the Report are assessed on 

a rolling period based on the original subscription 

date. For example, if a User subscribes to the Report 

on October 24, 2023, the monthly fee will cover the 

period of October 24, 2023, through November 23, 

2023. If the User cancels its subscription prior to 

November 23, 2023, and no refund is issued, the 

User will continue to receive both the end-of-day 

and end-of-month components of the Report for the 

subscription period. 

15An Internal Distributor of an Exchange Market 

Data product is a Distributor that receives the 

Exchange Market Data product and then distributes 

that data to one or more Users within the 

Distributor’s own entity. See Cboe BYX U.S. 

Equities Exchange Fee Schedule. 

16An External Distributor of an Exchange Market 

Data product is a Distributor that receives the 

Exchange Market Data product and then distributes 

that data to a third party or one or more Users 

communications relating to the 

proposed rule change between the 

Commission and any person, other than 

those that may be withheld from the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be 

available for website viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549, on official 

business days between the hours of 10 

a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also 

will be available for inspection and 

copying at the principal office of the 

Exchange. Do not include personal 

identifiable information in submissions; 

you should submit only information 

that you wish to make available 

publicly. We may redact in part or 

withhold entirely from publication 

submitted material that is obscene or 

subject to copyright protection. All 

submissions should refer to file number 

SR–CboeBZX–2023–097 and should be 

submitted on or before January 10, 2024. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.28

Sherry R. Haywood, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27923 Filed 12–19–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–99181; File No. SR– 

CboeBYX–2023–017] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe 

BYX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing 

and Immediate Effectiveness of a 

Proposed Rule Change To Amend Its 

Fee Schedule To Provide a Discount 

on the Purchase of Historical Equity 

Short Volume and Trade Reports 

December 14, 2023. 

Pursuant to section 19(b)(1) of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2

notice is hereby given that on December 

1, 2023, Cboe BYX Exchange, Inc. (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BYX’’) filed with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I, II, and 

III below, which Items have been 

prepared by the Exchange. The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments on the proposed rule 

change from interested persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

Cboe BYX Exchange, Inc. (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BYX’’) proposes to 

amend its Fee Schedule. The text of the 

proposed rule change is provided in 

Exhibit 5. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is also available on the Exchange’s 

website (http://markets.cboe.com/us/ 

equities/regulation/rule_filings/byx/), at 

the Exchange’s Office of the Secretary, 

and at the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room. 

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

In its filing with the Commission, the 

Exchange included statements 

concerning the purpose of and basis for 

the proposed rule change and discussed 

any comments it received on the 

proposed rule change. The text of these 

statements may be examined at the 

places specified in Item IV below. The 

Exchange has prepared summaries, set 

forth in sections A, B, and C below, of 

the most significant aspects of such 

statements. 

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The Exchange proposes to update its 

Fee Schedule to provide a discount on 

fees assessed to BYX Members 

(‘‘Members’’) 3 and non-Members that 

purchase $20,000 or more of U.S. Equity 

Short Volume and Trades Reports 

(‘‘Short Volume Reports’’), effective 

December 1, 2023 through December 31, 

2023. 

By way of background, the Short 

Volume Report is an end-of-day report 

that summarizes certain equity trading 

activity on the Exchange, including 

trade date,4 total volume,5 short 

volume,6 and sell short exempt 

volume,7 by symbol.8 The Short Volume 

Report also includes an end-of-month 

report that provides a record of all short 

sale transactions for the month, 

including trade date and time (in 

microseconds),9 trade size,10 trade 

price,11 and type of short sale 

execution,12 by symbol and exchange.13

The Short Volume Report is a 

completely voluntary product, in that 

the Exchange is not required by any rule 

or regulation to make this data available 

and that potential customers may 

purchase it on an ad-hoc basis only if 

they voluntarily choose to do so. 

Cboe LiveVol, LLC (‘‘LiveVol’’), a 

wholly owned subsidiary of the 

Exchange’s parent company, Cboe 

Global Markets, Inc., makes the Short 

Volume Report available for purchase to 

Users on the LiveVol DataShop website 

(datashop.cboe.com). Both the end-ofday report and end-of-month report are 

included in the cost of the Short 

Volume Report and are available for 

purchase by both Members as well as 

non-Members on an annual or 

monthly 14 basis. The monthly fee is 

$750 per Internal Distributor 15 and 

$1,250 per External Distributor.16


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 243 / Wednesday, December 20, 2023 / Notices 88177 

outside the Distributor’s own entity. See Cboe BYX 

U.S. Equities Exchange Fee Schedule. 17See the Nasdaq Fee Schedule, Equity 7, Section 

152. See also, the TAQ Group Short Sales (Monthly 

File) and Short Volume product, offered by the New 

York Stock Exchange LLC (‘‘NYSE’’) and affiliated 

equity markets (the ‘‘NYSE Group’’) at NYSE 

Exchange Proprietary Market Data | TAQ NYSE 

Group Short Sales. 

18The discount will apply on an order-by-order 

basis. The discount will apply to the total purchase 

price, once the $20,000 minimum purchase is 

satisfied (for example, a qualifying order of $25,000 

would be discounted to $20,000, i.e., receive a 20% 

discount of $5,000). 

19 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). 

20 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

21 Id. 22 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4). 23See supra note 17. 24See Cboe Global Markets, U.S. Equities Market 

Volume Summary, Month-to-Date (November 16, 

2023), available at https://www.cboe.com/us/ 

equities/market_statistics/. 

25See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 

(June 9, 2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005) 

(‘‘Regulation NMS Adopting Release’’). 

Additionally, the Exchange offers 

historical reports containing both the 

end-of-day volume and end-of-month 

trading activity. The fee per month of 

historical data is $500. The Short 

Volume Report provided on a historical 

basis is only for display use 

redistribution (e.g., the data may be 

provided on the User’s platform). 

Therefore, Users of the historical data 

may not charge separately for data 

included in the Short Volume Report or 

incorporate such data into their product. 

The Exchange notes that the Short 

Volume Report is subject to direct 

competition from other exchanges, as 

other exchanges offer similar products 

for a fee.17

The Exchange proposes to provide a 

temporary pricing incentive program in 

which Members or Non-Members that 

purchase historical Short Volume 

Reports will receive a percentage fee 

discount where specific purchase 

thresholds are met. Specifically, the 

Exchange proposes to provide a 20% 

discount for ad-hoc purchases of 

historical Short Volume Reports of 

$20,000 or more.18 The proposed 

program will apply to all market 

participants irrespective of whether the 

market participant is a new or current 

purchaser; however, the discount 

cannot be combined with any other 

discounts offered by the Exchange. The 

Exchange intends to introduce the 

discount program beginning December 

1, 2023, with the program remaining in 

effect through December 31, 2023. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes the proposed 

rule change is consistent with the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 

‘‘Act’’) and the rules and regulations 

thereunder applicable to the Exchange 

and, in particular, the requirements of 

section 6(b) of the Act.19 Specifically, 

the Exchange believes the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the section 

6(b)(5) 20 requirements that the rules of 

an exchange be designed to prevent 

fraudulent and manipulative acts and 

practices, to promote just and equitable 

principles of trade, to foster cooperation 

and coordination with persons engaged 

in regulating, clearing, settling, 

processing information with respect to, 

and facilitating transactions in 

securities, to remove impediments to 

and perfect the mechanism of a free and 

open market and a national market 

system, and, in general, to protect 

investors and the public interest. 

Additionally, the Exchange believes the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

the section 6(b)(5) 21 requirement that 

the rules of an exchange not be designed 

to permit unfair discrimination between 

customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers. 

The Exchange also believes the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

section 6(b)(4) of the Act,22 which 

requires that Exchange rules provide for 

the equitable allocation of reasonable 

dues, fees, and other charges among its 

Trading Permit Holders and other 

persons using its facilities. 

In adopting Regulation NMS, the 

Commission granted self-regulatory 

organizations (‘‘SROs’’) and brokerdealers increased authority and 

flexibility to offer new and unique 

market data to the public. It was 

believed that this authority would 

expand the amount of data available to 

consumers, and also spur innovation 

and competition for the provision of 

market data. The Exchange believes that 

the proposed fee changes will further 

broaden the availability of U.S. equity 

market data to investors consistent with 

the principles of Regulation NMS. The 

Exchange believes the dissemination of 

historical short volume data via 

historical Short Volume Reports benefits 

investors through increased 

transparency and may promote better 

informed trading, as well as research 

and studies of the equities industry. 

Nevertheless, the Exchange notes that 

such data is not necessary for trading 

and as noted above, is entirely optional. 

Moreover, several other exchanges offer 

a similar data product which offer the 

same type of data content through 

similar reports.23

The Exchange operates in a highly 

competitive environment. Indeed, there 

are currently 16 registered equities 

exchanges that trade equities. Based on 

publicly available information, no single 

equities exchange has more than 13% of 

the equity market share.24 The 

Commission has repeatedly expressed 

its preference for competition over 

regulatory intervention in determining 

prices, products, and services in the 

securities markets. Particularly, in 

Regulation NMS, the Commission 

highlighted the importance of market 

forces in determining prices and SRO 

revenues and, also, recognized that 

current regulation of the market system 

‘‘has been remarkably successful in 

promoting market competition in its 

broader forms that are most important to 

investors and listed companies.’’ 25

Making similar data products available 

to market participants fosters 

competition in the marketplace, and 

constrains the ability of exchanges to 

charge supercompetitive fees. In the 

event that a market participant views 

one exchange’s data product as more 

attractive than the competition, that 

market participant can, and often does, 

switch between similar products. The 

proposed fees are a result of the 

competitive environment of the U.S. 

equities industry as the Exchange seeks 

to adopt fees to attract purchasers of 

historical Short Volume Reports. 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed incentive program for any 

Member or non-Member who purchases 

historical Short Volume Reports is 

reasonable because such purchasers 

would receive a 20% discount for 

purchasing $20,000 or more worth of 

historical Short Volume Reports. The 

Exchange believes the proposed 

discount is reasonable as it will give 

purchasers the ability to use and test the 

historical Short Volume Reports at a 

discounted rate, prior to purchasing 

additional months or a monthly 

subscription, and will therefore 

encourage users to purchase historical 

Short Volume Reports. Further, the 

proposed discount is intended to 

promote increased use of the Exchange’s 

historical Short Volume Reports by 

defraying some of the costs a purchaser 

would ordinarily have to expend before 

using the data product. The Exchange 

believes that the proposed discount is 

equitable and not unfairly 

discriminatory because it will apply 

equally to all Members and nonMembers who purchase historical Short 

Volume Reports. Lastly, the purchase of 

this data product is discretionary and 

not compulsory. Indeed, no market 

participant is required to purchase the 

historical Short Volume Reports, and 

the Exchange is not required to make 

historical Short Volume Reports 

available to all investors. Potential 

purchasers may request the data at any 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
88178 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 243 / Wednesday, December 20, 2023 / Notices 

26 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

27 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f). 

28 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 

2 15 U.S.C. 78a. 

3 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

time if they believe it to be valuable or 

may decline to purchase such data. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The Exchange does not believe that 

the proposed rule change will impose 

any burden on competition that is not 

necessary or appropriate in furtherance 

of the purposes of the Act. The 

Exchange operates in a highly 

competitive environment in which the 

Exchange must continually adjust its 

fees to remain competitive. Because 

competitors are free to modify their own 

fees in response, the Exchange believes 

that the degree to which fee changes in 

this market may impose any burden on 

competition is extremely limited. As 

discussed above, the Exchange’s 

historical Short Volume Reports offering 

is subject to direct competition from 

several other options exchanges that 

offer similar data products. Moreover, 

purchase of historical Short Volume 

Reports is optional. It is designed to 

help investors understand underlying 

market trends to improve the quality of 

investment decisions, but is not 

necessary to execute a trade. 

The proposed rule changes are 

grounded in the Exchange’s efforts to 

compete more effectively. In this 

competitive environment, potential 

purchasers are free to choose which, if 

any, similar product to purchase to 

satisfy their need for market 

information. As a result, the Exchange 

believes this proposed rule change 

permits fair competition among national 

securities exchanges. Further, the 

Exchange believes that these changes 

will not cause any unnecessary or 

inappropriate burden on intermarket 

competition, as the proposed incentive 

program applies uniformly to any 

purchaser of historical Short Volume 

Reports. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

The Exchange neither solicited nor 

received comments on the proposed 

rule change. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

The foregoing rule change has become 

effective pursuant to section 19(b)(3)(A) 

of the Act 26 and paragraph (f) of Rule 

19b–4 27 thereunder. At any time within 

60 days of the filing of the proposed rule 

change, the Commission summarily may 

temporarily suspend such rule change if 

it appears to the Commission that such 

action is necessary or appropriate in the 

public interest, for the protection of 

investors, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act. If the 

Commission takes such action, the 

Commission will institute proceedings 

to determine whether the proposed rule 

change should be approved or 

disapproved. 

IV. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the Act. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

Electronic Comments 

• Use the Commission’s internet 

comment form (https://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include file number SR– 

CboeBYX–2023–017 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to file 

number SR–CboeBYX–2023–017. This 

file number should be included on the 

subject line if email is used. To help the 

Commission process and review your 

comments more efficiently, please use 

only one method. The Commission will 

post all comments on the Commission’s 

internet website (https://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the 

submission, all subsequent 

amendments, all written statements 

with respect to the proposed rule 

change that are filed with the 

Commission, and all written 

communications relating to the 

proposed rule change between the 

Commission and any person, other than 

those that may be withheld from the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be 

available for website viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549, on official 

business days between the hours of 10 

a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also 

will be available for inspection and 

copying at the principal office of the 

Exchange. Do not include personal 

identifiable information in submissions; 

you should submit only information 

that you wish to make available 

publicly. We may redact in part or 

withhold entirely from publication 

submitted material that is obscene or 

subject to copyright protection. All 

submissions should refer to file number 

SR–CboeBYX–2023–017 and should be 

submitted on or before January 10, 2024. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.28

Sherry R. Haywood, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27922 Filed 12–19–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–99166; File No. SR– 

NYSEARCA–2023–83] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE 

Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 

Rule Change To Amend the 

Connectivity Fee Schedule 

December 14, 2023. 

Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) 1 of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3

notice is hereby given that, on 

November 30, 2023, NYSE Arca, Inc. 

(‘‘NYSE Arca’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) filed 

with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) the 

proposed rule change as described in 

Items I and II below, which Items have 

been prepared by the self-regulatory 

organization. The Commission is 

publishing this notice to solicit 

comments on the proposed rule change 

from interested persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

The Exchange proposes to amend the 

Connectivity Fee Schedule (the ‘‘Fee 

Schedule’’) to add circuits provided by 

Fixed Income and Data Services 

(‘‘FIDS’’) for connectivity into and out of 

the data center in Mahwah, New Jersey 

(the ‘‘MDC’’). The proposed rule change 

is available on the Exchange’s website at 

www.nyse.com, at the principal office of 

the Exchange, and at the Commission’s 

Public Reference Room. 

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

In its filing with the Commission, the 

self-regulatory organization included 

statements concerning the purpose of, 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1